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one year after the january 6 attack on the capitol, and laura thornton gives her perspective on the virtual summit for democracy being held this week. join the discussion with your phone calls, facebook comments, text messages, and tweets. "washington journal" starts now. ♪ host: good morning. we will begin this friday, december 10, with your top news story of the week. it began with president biden's warning to vladimir putin, consequences for the for ukraine. we also had the passing of kansas senator and republican president nominee bob dole. lawmakers pay tribute to him yesterday at the capitol. democrat secured a deal with republicans to raise the debt ceiling, avoiding defaults on the nation's bill. and republicans in the senate continue their efforts to repeal president biden's vaccine

mandate, while the house yesterday approved legislation to curb presidential power. those are some of the headlines from washington this week. what is your top news story? republicans, dial in at (202)-748-8001. democrats, (202)-748-8000. and independents, (202)-748-8002 . you can also send us a text with your first name, city, and state, (202)-748-8003. our post your comments on facebook.com/c-span and send a tweet with the handle @cspanwj. from "politico," to headline about congress yesterday, securing a deal to raise the debt ceiling. headline reads -- congress clears schumer-mcconnell debt pack. the chamber cleared the built in a 59-35 vote, sending it onto president joe biden. one signed into law, it would give senate democrats a free

pass to raise the borrowing limit and a simple majority vote rather than facing the 60 vote hurdle to move legislation forward. here is the leader of the democratic party and the senate, chuck schumer, on the floor yesterday. [video clip] >> the proposal i worked on with leader mcconnell will allow democrats to do precisely what we have been seeking to do for months, but i have been coming down to the floor for advocating since the fall, providing a simple majority vote to fix the debt ceiling without having to resort to a convoluted, lengthy, and ultimately risky process. the nation's debt has been occurred on the bipartisan basis, so i am pleased that this responsible action will be taken today to facilitate a process that avoids a default. i want to thank leader mcconnell for working with us on this agreement. multiple conversations were fruitful, candid, and productive. this is the responsible path

forward, no default on the debt, no risk of another recession. we still have a few more steps to take four we resolve the matter, but i am optimistic that after today's vote, we will be on a path to avoid catastrophic default. [end video clip] host: democratic leader from new york, chuck schumer. "the washington post" notes that they join democrats to approve the measure to move forward at a later date on raising the debt limit. those 14 republicans reporting that both in favor came from leadership figures like minority whip, john barak of wyoming, and others included senator shelley moore capito of west virginia, roger wicker of mississippi, susan collins, thom

tillis, lisa murkowski, joni ernst, and mitt romney. it includes rob portman, richard burr, roy blunt, who provided the rest of the votes. the deal also included a way to avoid medicare cuts, sweetening the deal for republicans to join in with democrats on this. your top news story of the week. that is our conversation this first hour. gordon, republican, good morning. caller: yes, thanks for taking my call. i am in support of the bankruptcy bill that has more republicans than democrats since the premarket check, but before i do, you probably remember me calling and before, the national director of contracts for american platoon.

so marco rubio and rick scott know me by name. the point i am trying to make his rick scott keeps talking about cutting stuff that he is not using tax dollars to make guaranteed loans, and the liberals talk about loan limits, and both our failures because bankruptcies operate for the market check and it is an economic second amendment. the reason that i can be credible is you can look at the terri schiavo case and see my law, and the director of contracting america part two. the liberals are going to enjoy this impending bankruptcy because it is a conservative answer. the liberals have a good point about forgiveness, but loan forgiveness would free some of the debt would not abolish slavery. host: larry, maryland, republican, your top news story of the week. caller: vladimir putin amassing

175 thousand troops against ukraine. i stated five years ago that putin was going to restore the russian empire, retake ukraine, the baltic nations, belarus, and joe biden going to do nothing. he is going to watch like he did in afghanistan. we are going to see -- between russia and nato, you are going to see a german problem before the whole world, so we are heading to a global crisis. host: what do you mean a german problem? caller: the fourth reicht. you have the ftd's in the greens, and leningrad, which was the capitol of prussia, that is what i mean, german problem. host: to follow-up on what

happened earlier this week and that video conference call between president biden and the russian leader of vladimir putin , "politico" reporting yesterday that president biden reassured ukraine amid fears of russian invasion. his ukrainian counterpart expressed deep concerns to the united states and its european allies. diane in michigan, democratic caller. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. here is my take on how everything is going, it is so depressing. it makes you feel so helpless, and, you know, as an average american living in america, if i were president biden, i would do all i could to make american lives better, and i would be writing executive order after executive order. yes, maybe it would only last

during his term, they can be flipped, executive orders, but how can anybody reverse when american lives are better? i am not talking about executive orders for both, i am talking executive orders that improve american's lives, better health care, better education, better funding for schools. you could say, well, the budget, the budget. like any american family, when you're priorities change, year to year or whatever, you adjust your budget, so maybe we have to take money out of whatever and that may not be as helpful to american families, and you put it toward american families do executive orders. come on, president biden, let's do this, let's make american lives better. host: on twitter, making the debt limit easier to raise, the top news story of the week. i would think we would want to

make it more difficult, just sayin'. on the economy, from "yahoo! finance," inflation near 40 year high, shocks americans and spooks washington, and then you also have the wall street journal, u.s. jobless claims fall to the lowest level in 52 years. this is the headline that broke yesterday. unemployment filing, 184,000, as the week ended on december 4 as employers hold onto workers. linda, mississippi, democratic caller. good morning. caller: good morning. good morning. my top story for today is that the appeals court rejected donald trump's appeal to hold his documents.

he is using the court to keep us from knowing about those documents. on january 6. i am glad the courts are holding steady and the republicans are holding strong. in two weeks, we might find out what he is bent on holding secret. host: linda of "politico" has the headline, the appeal denies to hold records from january 6, and from the reporting, the unanimous 68 page opinion from the u.s. circuit court of appeals from the district of columbia describes the national interest and investigation of attacks that threatened the peaceful transfer of power from trump to president biden, connecting the chaos of that date to trump's own statements calling for a wild protest in

washington and urging supporters to march on the capitol. it says trump indicated he intends to appeal the ruling to the supreme court, and the appeals panel gave him two weeks to delay the effects of the ruling, meaning he needs the high court to intervene and to slow down the decision before christmas, but the decision is another resounding victory for programmers on the attack -- probers on the attack, even if it is not final. rick, republican. caller: good morning. it is always a pleasure to see you, you are such a pretty lady. i would like to command archery system in america. it is nice to see that it works instead of people being tried through the media, etc., and politicians. it is nice to see the n brunswick, not far from where i lived, worked, the rittenhouse worked, the smollett casework,

we should let the jury systems, not the politicians, try cases, and it is so nice to see. i wish apologies would come out for people like rittenhouse, people like the police in chicago who did everything they could and the smollett case, and i wish the politicians would apologize for calling people racist and this and that, whatever, but it starts from the very top. thank god we live in a system where juries of our peers prove innocence of guilt, not the media or politicians because they would be a lot of people in prison if we listen to the media, etc. you are such a delight and we love you. you are such a classy lady, so thank you. host: vic in florida,

independent. top news story of the week. caller: my top story is congress not completing the work they were tasked to do at the beginning of their term. the first two things they were supposed to do was prescription drug costs, which they have not done, and then they were supposed to bring down the cost of health insurance, which they have not done, and they are always waiting until the last minute. they have a 22% approval rating, and a lot of things that need to be done are not getting done because they fight constantly over minor things. the bills that they vote on have 25 pages of stuff instead of one simple thing at a time. they could do one day and get it done, but people are hurting out here because of congress. they are the ones causing the problems because they are not doing their job, and they refuse

to stop taking money from large donors. they have unlimited amounts of money that they can take for campaign contributions. that is just like showing your vote, -- host: let me jump in, you mentioned prescription drugs and lowering the cost of drug care, did you vote for democrats for those two reasons? you thought they would do something on those issues? caller: yes, along with the fact i am a senior citizen, and i thought it would be better for me as far as social security and medicare because mitch mcconnell said if he had the chance, he would cut both of them. you have to vote in your own self interest, but that was one of the main reasons i voted for democrats. that is one of the things that affects me as a senior citizen. i have to pay high prices for prescription drugs.

if i could get them from canada, it would be one third of the price i would pay in america, so it did not come true for me, so i am disappointed with, cuts and republicans for not doing that. host: yesterday in the house, the democratic-controlled chamber approved along party lines votes, 220-208, legislation that would curb the executive power. these are some of the provisions from the protecting our democracy act, prevents abusive power, extends statute of limitations or federal offense committed by a sitting president or president, enforces the foreign clauses of the constitution, and it enforces congressional subpoenas and requires presidential and vice presidential talks, transparency, leader of the

legislation was adam schiff, and here he is talking about why he believed the legislation was needed. [video clip] >> abuses of the last several years are more sweeping in nature more than anything undertaken during the nixon administration and led to a violent attack on her capital. the need for stronger guardrails is greater than ever. today, congress took up the protecting our democracy act to address vulnerabilities at the last four years exposed. the bill would expedite enforcement of congressional subpoenas, the necessity of which is been demonstrated in real time as top officials in the former administration seek to stonewall subpoenas and prevent the public from learning of their role in the january 6 insurrection. congress cannot enforce it subpoenas and is no more congress than a court would remain a court without the power to compel witnesses to testify at trial. instead, it becomes a plaything

before desperate. although the term presidency demonstrated the need for wholesale reinforcement of our democratic institutions, protecting our democracy act is less about the past than it is about the future. the bills provisions address deficiencies revealed, not as a punishment of the last president beyond legislative rage, but to guard against any future president of either party that would be tended to make themselves a king. [end video clip] host: adam schiff of california, talking about white democrats passed legislation. from the republican point of view, here's the ranking member of the over house oversight and reform committee. he said it was more about punishing the previous administration. [video clip] >> the democrats playbook is about as predictable as a hallmark christmas special. we have all seen this movie, the bill before us today is based on political fiction, and it is the latest attempt to resurrect democrats' sham investigations

of the past. it disrupts the separation of powers among the branches of government by diminishing the executive branch and ignoring the judicial branch. for example, the legislation interfere with the president's pardon power, a power completely vested with the president. this gives congress access to sensitive white house to liberation communications about pardons. what decided purpose does that serve? congress has no authority to evaluate the president's pardon power. this bill also overrides the judicial branch by attacking -- attaching definitions to constitutional language the supreme court has already spoken to. it would change the definition of emoluments to fit failed legal theories and indulge certain members' conspiracy theories. [end video clip] host: republican congressman james comer yesterday. that legislation passed,

however, it would take 60 votes in the senate which means republicans blocked it. pamela, democratic caller. cap new story of the week. -- top news story of the week. caller: i am concerned about the fact that the people who attacked the capitol and are absolutely traders to the country and committing treason are enjoying the benefits of being citizens of the country they are trying to destroy. they are not treated as regular citizens would be, who refused to show up for subpoenas. they just need to be put in jail like regular citizens would be. also, to take it a step further, they should be treated like the terrorists and traitors that they are. the definition of treason is failing to honor the country that you are sworn to protect

which certainly applies to the president of the united states, the former president. we all saw this live on tv, the president said, let's stop democratic process. if these people were foreigners, they would be thrown in jail, no questions asked, they cannot avail themselves of the benefits of being citizens, and i think we should just do that. there should be no discussion about it. they are traitors committing treason. i know the united states past and amendment that treason was only applicable during times of war, well, we are in a war, being attacked from within. mr. trump and the republican party are trying to overthrow the micro state and establish mr. trump as a dictator and probably a king. host: ok, pamela, just so you know, also, there are several who are in jail, several participants of the january 6

riot. earlier this week, we heard from republicans led by marjorie taylor greene of georgia, lamenting the conditions of jails. mike, illinois, independent. caller: good morning. as i was watching c-span this week, i noticed two things, to pay for the bring backbiting program, he wants to hire over 800 irs agents to pay for this, almost an assault on the american people to pay for these programs. also, we found out we lost 10 million jobs due to the vaccine mandate in the last two months, and now you are reading off unemployment numbers in the single digits, how does that work? also, there is so much. 10 million, the flood program that is bumping up, it is an

assault on the american people from a government invaded by other countries. there was a question the other day, how do we check callers as they call in? i suggest we allow viewers to pitch in via ai computer, artificial intelligence computer and allow c-span to verify these questions that were given everyday from a government, and from callers to verify as we go in lifetime. i understand they cost around 3 million that we do a little fundraiser from the callers. you host on the computer and you verify everything said and think through the problems we are having. maybe that is our answer. now we know china is in bed with ai, maybe we fight fire with fire, get our own ai, and we

checked everything coming out of that building behind you, and we verify all the calls as we go. host: ok, there is also the ability of those of you watching, you have your laptop with you as you are watching or your phone, you can go to factcheck.org when you hear something by a caller and check it yourself, as well. walter in michigan, democratic caller. caller: hello, good morning. the story for me is donald trump being refused by the courts. i believe he is guilty of that insurrection, and he needs to be dried, and i believe convicted. i do not know what the problem is with these republicans. they do not believe their own eyes? i mean, it is plain and simple on television, and everyone would say donald trump put him

up to it -- put them up to it. he needs to be tried like the rest of americans would. as far as these people in jail, now, all of a sudden marjorie taylor greene is worried about people in jail. what about people who were in jail before those? also, i would like to say -- although i don't agree with their politics -- less cheney and adam kinsler for trying to get to the truth. also called about income tax, you should not have anything to figure from the irs if you are not guilty. host: walter in michigan. yesterday on capitol hill, dignitaries, lawmakers and president biden pay tribute to the late senator bob dole. there is his wife, elizabeth told, paying her respects to her late husband. the minority leader, mitch mcconnell, also spoke at the

ceremony. here's what he had to say about the late predecessor. [video clip] >> the son of hardship was laser focused on food security and rural issues. a wounded warrior who spent decades carrying veterans and americans with disabilities on his shoulders. bob was the last of the greatest generation to run for president, but he was never stuck in the past. his roots ran deep, but he was always looking to new horizons. from that first speech, through his years in leadership, through bob's incredibly active retirement in name only, he built brighter futures. bob was blessed with long life

to watch this legacy take effect . that was no accident. bob liked to joke that he planned for longevity by closely studying our most senior colleagues. he had a whole comedy routine about how he had tried to copy thurman's -- strom thurmond's eating habits. strom takes eight shrimp, i eat a shrimp. he eats a banana, i eat a banana. but the real reason behind his remarkable years was his love, his love for elizabeth, robin, public service, kansas, and for america. today, we honor the amazing life that love created, and we thank god, the source of all love,

both for bob's incredible journey here in this life, and for the fact he has entered his eternal reward in the next. [end video clip] host: mitch mcconnell, the republican party, honoring the legacy of his predecessor, the late bob dole. the casket carrying the former senator will make its way from the capitol today to the national cathedral here in washington, where there will be a memorial service starting at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. we will have coverage of it, right here on c-span, our website, c-span.org, or watch with our new video app, c-span now. later today, also on c-span, a wreathlaying ceremony takes place honor the former kansas senator and world war two veteran at the world war two memorial come alive at 1:20 eastern on c-span, c-span.org,

or our video app, c-span now. your top new story is the conversation. robert in kentucky, republican, good morning. go ahead. caller: yes ma'am. you know a woman got on there a while ago, and i thought if a president gave you an order, you had to do it, you know? and there were given an order -- host: carl, new york, democratic caller. caller: yeah, good morning. anyway, i would like to say this to america, if we are sitting here watching the republicans use the age-old

confederate usage, they are trying [indiscernible] if by do not get rid of the filibuster while they are in office, it will pass, and believe me, mitch mcconnell, will he get power [indiscernible] biting this, biting that, do not worry about that -- biden this, biden that, do not worry about that. [indiscernible] but do it, and the people will back it up. if you don't, mitch mcconnell was going to do it and they're going to make laws where democrats will never come into office. host: carl, the deal between majority leader schumer and minority leader mcconnell on the

debt limit is related to this conversation over the filibuster. some republicans were critical of mitch mcconnell for striking the steel over the debt limit. "new york times" reports today, allies said that mitch mcconnell had little choice given the current struggles of the biden administration with republicans in strong position to win back congress next year. they were reluctant to give, cuts any ammunition to turn the tide. that is a default on our nations debt. republicans noted it could preserve the senate filibuster, a chief objective of mcconnell, continues to blockade against raising the debt limit would force the hand of the few remaining holdouts against weakening the filibuster. something he wanted to avoid at all cost. the legislation created a one-time exception from the requirement to secure 60 votes

to overcome a filibuster, only with republican consent and cooperation. this is just a vote on the procedure to raise the debt limit. president biden has to sign that proposal that was approved yesterday, and then it allows democrats to bring a bill that raises the debt limit back to the floor, and to prove it with just a simple majority vote, meaning republicans would not have to actually vote on raising the debt limit. randy in madison, wisconsin, republican. good morning. caller: good morning, greta. thank you for taking my call. i am surprised that none of the people who actually orchestrated the january 6 insurrection against our democracy have been held accountable. only the low people have been held accountable. i think we are playing politics because of the fact that both sides agree that they should

never prosecute the other. republicans and democrats agree that if they were to hold the other accountable for their crimes, take them lying to the public about wars, they would each have been prosecuting each other, which is really sad. and to follow-up on what you're you are talking about, the debt limit, most of the debt limit was for the republican party, not the democrats. it was donald trump who treated most of the deficit. once again, mitch mcconnell playing games with politics. thank you. host: maryann owens on twitter said her top story is the parents of the michigan suspected school shooter being charged with numerous counts of involuntary manslaughter, game changing precedent, she writes, gun ownership carries the

liability. jim in new jersey, democratic caller. what is your top news story? caller: actually, there are several top news stories this week, but i believe that the republicans, democrats are trying to come together, but for different reasons. what can we say? it remains in their hands as to what they're going to do with the coronavirus and all the other issues concerning our country. host: all right, jim. this week, also, in the senate, republicans were able to put on the floor a proposal that would

repeal president biden's vaccine mandate for the private sector. they secured two votes from democratic senators joe manchin and jon tester. it was approved 52-48. it is unlikely to come up in the house or get to the president's desk. publican say they will continue to push to undo the vaccine mandate. listen to mike braun, the leading republican of the legislation of indiana. here's what he had to say. [video clip] >> once we had a vaccine, i think we got it quicker than what we would have otherwise if we were entrepreneurial in the way we did it. i have been on record that unless you have a good reason not to, you should get the vaccine, but, where i come from, when you then try to extend that to the point, especially looking at what we have traveled through over 1.5 years, into are hardly any transmission is occurring at

the business level or what you do during the day, and then you have a brainstorm like this, you either get the vaccine or you get tested, or you lose your job , or if you choose to do neither of the two. that is the heavy hand of government, overreach, and that is when my phone started ringing off the hook. when i would go home each weekend, like i always do, i would get calls and text messages. people would stop me and say, what is happening? and this is not from corporate america, this is from where we need to be paying attention. remember, we were helping businesses up to 500 employees. we spent billions, trillions of dollars to get through this, and, now, when everyone has found a way to navigate it because they have been

responsible, businesses wanted to keep from the beginning their employees and their customers safe. you come up with this kind of ultimatum. it has main street america scared. they are worried about, what does this mean on another issue? anybody that thinks this is a good idea, imagine the next time it happened when you are on the wrong side of whatever the merits of the case would be. that is why for me, it was easy to do. we quickly got all republicans on board. now, it is bipartisan. i would say this, and i want to hear from the other senators, i hope members in the house, democrats check with constituents, and make sure that they are not part of the 86% of americans that say, when you put it in these terms, either get it or you lose your job, you are on the wrong side of the issue. [end video clip] host: mike braun of indiana on

the proposal to repeal president biden's vaccine mandate. cnn is running a headline about the state of michigan covid patients dying at a rate never seen before in hospitals in that state. the majority leader's chuck schumer during debate over the legislation on the senate floor had this to say about republican efforts. [video clip] >> if the only damage was to him or her who do not get vaccinated, maybe some people would say that is ok, but it is not just to them. because when there is a large group of people and vaccinated, even if it is not the majority, that allows the covid virus to spread, mutate, to create mu variants, and create -- create new variants and stronger ones. it is a pool of people, and if you greatly reduce it, you reduce the chance of a new variant.

it is crazy. the internet has had a role in spreading this, and so has the far right. the stained people on the far right want to tear down government and hurt working people in so many other ways and are here doing the same thing, the same thing, even though, as i said, a good number get vaccinated themselves, hypocrisy. there should be one message only coming from this chamber to the american people, get vaccinated, get used to it, state safe yourself, keep your families, communities, and our country safe. the worst thing we can do is tie our own hands the hind their own backs. -- hands behind our own backs, and that these new variants spread, like omicron, and so many others. that is what republican pushed anti-vaccines would do. i will strongly vote against this.

i have strong feelings about what is good for this country. [end video clip] host: the proposal passed in the senate, unlikely to be taken up in the house. the courts are also weighing in on vexing mandates. there is the editorial -- on vexing mandates. here is an editorial in "wall street journal." the white house notes that a federal judge in georgia blocked a vaccine requirement for employers of federal contractors, the fifth judicial review in less than a month. lastly, a federal judge in -- last week, a federal judge gregory venkat hold joined the administration from enforcing it in ohio, kentucky and tennessee, while conceding congress delegated broad powers to the president, and the judge noted his authority is not absolute. chris in illinois, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. yes, just a few things, in

regards to january 6, because i'm an independent. barack obama, i believe he was a great president. i did like trump, even though the way he went about tweets was pretty bad, but they are both constituents and agreed on what they were doing with all of that on the economy. i think it has gotten way too far. we need to open up. there are 500 people that were arrested on january 6. i would like to know everybody involved because her now it seems like it is one-sided. i would like to see everyone involved because i do not know with some videos that showed people, blm, i do not know if i agree if that was the conspiracy, but that was like for the fbi.

basically, they let everybody out in the world know who these people are affiliated with, and just what all happened that day. host: gary in jacksonville, florida, democratic caller. good morning. caller: good morning. i have a couple of things, please. first off, chuck schumer is 100% correct, and it was turned into a political issue with vaccinations. it is a health issue, not a political issue. do not have the right to subject to take everybody else's health concerns because of selfishness. employers have drug testing for employment. i do not see how this is any different. the other thing is donald trump objecting to the papers from the january 6 thing. i remember he always said, if

you have nothing to hide, what are you worried about? have a great weekend. host: michael, new kensington, pennsylvania, republican. caller: good morning, greta. thank you for taking my call. thank you for c-span. just a quick aside from what i wanted to talk about was listening to chuck schumer talk about the omicron virus. he must've gone to the same medical school joe biden 12. i don't think -- joe biden went to. i don't think they have a lot of business legislating on health matters. nonetheless, the issue i called about was bob dole, a great american, war hero, right senator, and quite a comedian. everyone that watched c-span or watched the events going on on the senate floor you how funny bob dole could be.

he had quite a dry wit, but he was up to his old tricks way back then. trump has merely highlighted how bad they have been over the years. i remember watching a david letterman show when they finally had bob dole on after he lost the election, and he was cracking the audience up, and david letterman says, boy, i wish we would have known how funny you were before. we would have had you on earlier. that is a lie. it did not want anybody to see how funny bob dole was. he was quite a good guy. host: michael, we talked with a former colleague of his, a former senator from wyoming, yesterday on the phone ahead of the tributes to the late senator bob dole. he talked about that very thing, about during his campaign that his aides advised him not to be

funny, to not use his weight on the campaign trail. -- hiswit on the campaign trail and talked about how it was a mistake. caller: sure it was. i do think some of the late shows and things like that, and some of the mainstream media at that time were just as biased against conservatives as they are today. maybe not quite as much, but pretty close. host: pat, north carolina, democratic caller. caller: good morning. i am glad you were able to take my phone call. what i am calling about is i have already received my notice for my new benefits on social security. i got a $40 increase in my social security benefits from our social security administration. also, i have already received my and freeze on my food stamps.

it is regrettable that some have not gotten this yet, but here in north carolina, we are building roads, as well as two new businesses. amazon is now in this area, and so is verizon. you have a good day, honey. i think the nation needs to know these things, that it does work when you have a governor looking out for your state. you all have a beautiful day. host: from "the washington post," the clock ticks on child payouts. a new federal program that provides monthly payments to an estimated 35 million families with children, set to expire at the end of december, putting fresh pressure on congress, if it hopes to preserve an initiative that president biden sees as critical to combating poverty. the aid is result of an expanded, retooled child tax

credit, which democrats approved this past spring, as part of their coronavirus relief package. lawmakers increase the amounts of benefits, insured lower income americans could claim it fully on their taxes, and allowed parents for the first time to collect the money in the form of complete checks. that coming to an end unless it is acted upon in congress before the end of december. pat -- excuse me, christine in chicago, illinois, independent. caller: good morning. hello? host: we are listening, christine. caller: i want to talk about the jussie smollett case. i am so glad we still have honest people in this country that brought him to justice. you have no idea what they put chicago police through. i live in what you call the area of boys town. there are hate crimes on blacks

and gays all the time, and it is horrendous. and what he did, and they just shot chicago down for weeks and weeks, all this lying media, and now that he is guilty, they -- two minutes they say, smollett was guilty, that is it. they do not apologize for their lies and the other scum, the state's attorney, she dropped all charges on him, and we knew why, because some of his first calls were to vice president harris and obama's assistant, don lemons. he would not give up his phone, but they never said all of that on the line media, and i understand -- lying media, and i understand why the people listen to the lying media feel the way

they do. i feel so bad for all the gays and the blacks that had to put up with this garbage because the media just lied about it over and over. host: christine is referring to this headline -- jussie smollett guilty of staging race hating attack to boost his career. that headline in that verdict happening yesterday -- and that verdict happening yesterday. bill in alabama, independent. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. so much to cover, so little time. can somebody please give meet the definition of a vaccine or what vaccination means? and what jussie smollett, the hoax he created and the media,

the way they ran with that story and that wild story was just terrible, but my main thing was about the district attorney's, the mayors, and the governors of states with all this smash and grab, and they just act like it is not happening? it does not exist? greta, thank you for ticket michael, and you -- for taking my call and have a great weekend. host: anthony in maryland, democratic caller. caller: good morning, greta. my story of the week is the white nationalist march last weekend to washington, d.c., with a police escort, and they did not have a permit to be here. instead of being escorted to jail, the police escorted them through the streets down to the

lincoln memorial, and then they admitted after the march that they did not have a permit, but no one was arrested, so it looks as if you are going to have to put the fence back up around the capitol or something because nobody is paying attention to what is going on. that is my story of the week. host: previous caller mentioned the late senator bob dole appearing on late night comedian shows. president biden is set to make his first late-night television appearance as president, from "the associated press poll co. he is set to appear on "the tonight show with jimmy fallon." he will appear virtually. the white house did not say where he will be when he tapes the segment. randy in wisconsin, republican. caller: good morning. one is about the putin summit, i

don't think we got anywhere near the full story, and i think it is going to be a tragedy. after that, i think it will be china and taiwan. i hope not, but it does not look good. the other thing i want to talk about is this mandate that president biden put on and met republican dr. on to explain things, and then you go to a non-doctor, schumer on the floor completely making it up. you can figure it out for yourself. last thing is, nancy pelosi's investigation. she already tried to impeach trump for a phone call and lost. after january 6, she tried to impeach him for january 6 rally, lost. so she puts this big democratic -- two republican democrats on

it and kicked out three republican senators and she kicked them off, and she is trying her best to stop president trump from ever running again, so it will be interesting. and they are sending subpoenas out to lawyers that talked to trump two years ago and want to know what they said. host: ok, randy. on foreign policy, president biden yesterday hosting a virtual summit on democracy. this is the headline "the wall street journal." here is what he had to say about the purpose of the summit. [video clip] >> my late friend, congressman john lewis, was a great champion of american democracy and for civil rights around the world. learning from and gaining inspiration from other great leaders like gandhi and mandella.

his final words to our nation last year, "democracy is not a state, it is an act." "democracy is not a state, it is an act." over the next two days, we are bringing together leaders from more than 100 governments along activists and other members of civil society, leading experts, researchers, and representatives from the business community, not to assert that anyone of our democracies is perfect or has all the answers, but to lock arms and reaffirm our shared commitment to make democracies better, to share ideas and learn from each other, and to make concrete commitments of how to strengthen our own democracies and push back, to fight corruption, promote and protect human rights of people everywhere, to act. this summit is a kickoff of a year in action for all of our countries, the follow through on

commitments, and report back next year on the progress we have made. as we do this, united states will lead by example, investing in our own democracy, supporting our partners around the world at the same time. [end video clip] host: president biden yesterday. randy in wisconsin, we are getting your top story of the week. caller: that is a great speech. and maybe you should come on the television today and say, i am sorry for what i said about jussie smollett. i was completely wrong. what he just said now had nothing to do with russia. it was about us. he tries to paint a pretty picture all the time but he is making it worse. look at this country. and he wants off of fossil fuels, but the country is not ready for it. how would you like to be in a snowstorm on the electric vehicle right now that we have

coming here? and heavier battery run out to nothing with no heat, nothing? your car is sitting there. ultimately it comes to that day, but i do not know. host: jennifer, oak park, illinois, democratic caller. caller: good morning. host: morning. caller: so, i have had a lot of coffee. [laughter] host: [laughter] you sound very awake. caller: exactly, i am. i actually wanted -- my top story was about how religion can't us and our government and everything, and you had a man on earlier in the week, and he said something about how he wanted to go back to like one religion in the schools, which i thought was really scary because they are always saying jihadists always want one religion, and that is why they are to kill everyone

and also, everyone calls in, and they keep saying god, and the read us the bible, and that is great. if you believe in christ, that is amazing, but that is not what most of the country believes in, and calling and to use these things for abortion, and all these things, and people -- all these politicians are saying, bring back god in the school, who is god? which god? is america now, this is our number one religion? what about everyone else? i thought this was freedom for religion. same with abortion. religious beliefs. i am not trying to force my beliefs that you should not be allowed to completely screw up your children if they are gay by sending them to gay conversion -- i mean, to me, that is child

abuse, but i am not sitting here, trying to force my personal views in a law, i guess. host: ok, jennifer, shelley, connecticut, republican. caller: hi. thanks for taking my call, my name is shelley. i have been listening to your show, and i enjoy it every morning. occasionally, someone comes up with something that is a little bit off in numbers. we had a prior caller who said they were looking at 80,000 -- no, 800 irs agents, and it is more like 87,000 they want to hire, and it is true, if you have nothing to hide, you should not be afraid, however, anyone who received a letter from the irs knows they have to get together information, they have to worry, and believe me, hiring all of those people would be

intent of paying for the big debt. you can be pretty sure they are going to look at something because there is probably going to be like a quota. you have had this many audits, irs agent, how many have you got money from? that is the concern, whether you are perfectly honest, or you are not. the other thing is, with everybody saying that the record for donald trump should be open, the fact is when you start looking at different records, it is an interpretation because we are all looking at life through our own paradigm, and are paradigm for republican and democrat are different, so they can look at the same thing, which may be totally innocent, and see it. host: linz, pennsylvania,

democratic -- vince, pennsylvania, democratic caller. caller: i guess my topic would be, along with the last caller, it is what is not being discussed that is in the bill i think that concerns everybody and confuses everybody. host: you are talking about the build back better bill? caller: yes, like the irs agents are attacking america. we have millions of dollars for refugees, folks coming over the border. there is amtrak bailouts for $98 billion. there is a lot of money nobody is talking about on either side. host: this legislation passed in the house and not the senate yet. mckay still negotiating with joe manchin and kyrsten sinema about

eight path forward on the bill. we are going to take a break. when we come back, we will be joined by molly reynolds to discuss how congress is functioning almost after a year office but also the attacks on january 6 and later the alliance for securing democracies lawrence orens joins us to discuss the virtual summit for democracy held this week. we will be right back. ♪ >> book tv every sunday features levering authors discussing their nonfiction books. discuss -- watch our coverage of the wisconsin book festival on author discussions on history, science, and the criminal justice system. a 2:30, greg talks about his book empire of rubber, scramble for land and power in liberia.

then experiences growing up with puerto rico and miami in the book ordinary girl. and jared adams with his book, the fight for equality on both sides of a broken system. at 10:00 p.m. on afterwards, 1619 project creator and pulitzer prize winning journalist nicole hammett jones looks at american history, slavery, and its legacy in america. she is interviewed by stephen hahn. watch book tv every sunday on c-span two and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at book tv.org -- booktv.org. ♪

[fireworks exploding] >> "washington journal" continues. host: joining us this morning is molly reynolds, a senior fellow of governance studies at brookings institution in washington here to talk about congress and the biden presidency. molly reynolds, let's start with capitol hill behind us and this from gallup, apel they took in october of this year showing congress approve -- approval rating at its lowest at 21%. what you make of that number? guest: first i will note that there has been moments in the not so distant past where congress approval rating has been lower than that.

that is useful context but one thing we know about americans and how they think about congress is they generally think quite highly of their individual members but the institution itself is rarely very popular. americans don't really like to watch congress do the sausage making part of the lawmaking process. they do not like to see the conflict on display. they would prefer things to go more smoothly than they often do. when we have extended periods like we have had over the last several months, real disagreements both between the parties and do some cases within the parties, it is not surprising to me that congress is not especially popular. host: what you make of senator mitch mcconnell's move to agree with democrats on a one time vote to avoid the filibuster

that would allow democrats to raise the debt limit with a simple majority? guest: first, i will note that leader mcconnell has a long history of saying the federal government should not default on debt. that we need to address the debt limit. the consequences of not doing so are catastrophic for the u.s. and global economy more generally. in that sense, the fact there was some sort of deal reached is not surprising to me. since the way or the form of the deal, this one-time exception to the filibuster for this measure to increase the debt limit, was a history of these kinds of procedures in congress. there are other times when congress has come together and said we will carve out specific pieces of legislation from the filibuster and often we have seen that happen when one or both parties are trying to avoid

blame, trying to keep their fingerprints off of something that they see as unpopular, and a special procedural maneuver they think and help them. even in that history, this fits neatly with the idea that republicans, some of them, are committed to making sure the debt limit is increased. they want to put as much of the blame or responsibility for doing that on democrats so coming to this procedural pretzel, this complicated set up procedures to do this, is in line with that history. host: where is this congress on passing appropriations bills that explain why it is congress is supposed to pass the spending bills for federal agencies, and they are supposed to do it without a continuing resolution. guest: they are supposed to do

it without a continuing resolution, but they have consistently fallen down on this part of their job. the ways the appropriation process in the house and senate is supposed to work every year is there are 12 individual appropriations that are handled different -- handled by different federal agencies. one for the department of defense, labor, health and human services. there are 10. congress is to take up each one of the 12 bills individually, delivering over spending, levels for programs in those agencies, and pass the bills individually and they are supposed to do a by the start of the new federal fiscal year on october 1. congress has failed to do this regularly for the past several decades. so when it fails to act on appropriations before the start of the new fiscal year, that is when we end up with a continuing

resolution or short-term stopgap bill that keeps the federal operations funded, usually at the same level they were in the previous year. right now, we are on our second continuing resolution of this current fiscal year, fiscal year 2022. there is one passed in september that got us to the beginning of december and recently the house and senate passed another one that will take us to february. this is good in a sense it prevents a parcel government shutdown, as we know from having lived through a record length government shutdown at the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019. those have been incredibly disruptive to the lives of americans who depend on federal programs and services. we do not have -- the government did not shut down but knew resolutions are not the test

wafer congress and the president to handle the budget process. they create uncertainty, we end up with agencies having to spend a lot of time planning for the possibility of a shutdown, deciding who -- which operations would have to continue, which would cease, and that sort of thing. they are costly and inefficient ways to handle the budget process. host: i want to encourage our viewers to call in and join this conversation and tell us what you think of this 117th congress and president biden -- brydon' -- biden's first year. democrats (202) 748-8000, republicans (202) 748-8001, or independent (202) 748-8002. you can also text us at (202) 748-8003 or go to facebook.com/c-span and send a

tweet with the handle @cspanwj. what are your thoughts on congress and the presidency? caller: i think a lot of it is flavored by organizations such as the ones that your speaker here represents or association with the federalist society and other. they are far right wing pushing exotic libertarian, destroy government perspectives. they come from the 1860's and the federalist societies and others were formed to push social racism. the idea was a eugenic bias and social darwinism. it has a failed -- has to do with a failed understanding. the direct question is, what is your understanding of evolution? do you believe that might makes right? that is the core foundation of libertarian and that is false. evolution is about cooperation. host: i will move onto teresa in

dennis e. a republican. caller: good morning. -- in tennessee. a republican. caller: good morning. this congress, i hate the way they only pass continuing resolutions, they won't pass the budget. everything is always passed on a friday before they go on vacation for weeks. they never have to answer questions about anything. joe biden never takes questions. it is the most dysfunctional congress and presidency i have ever seen. it is dirty. they don't do anything right. nobody knows what's in the bills, they don't release them. how can they release the bill 20 minutes before they vote on it? i don't understand this congress and that is why joe biden's approval ratings are low 30's. host: do you think this congress

is different than previous congresses and administrations, republicans and democrats? guest: by proxy. the house doesn't even show up to work. i sit here and watch the votes on c-span and none of them vote in person. they are all by proxy, which i think should be illegal. i don't know how they come up with that by proxy vote. host: there is a court case on the very issue of proxy voting. guest: share. on the caller's point about congress doing things at the last minute, whether on a friday, right before a deadline, before something will expire, that is not unique to the 117th congress. those are characteristics we have seen repeatedly throughout recent decades. in some ways, it can sometimes take that deadline, that action forcing mechanism to get

congress, like anyone else, to really come to agreements and get its work done. those are not new characteristics to this congress. even when congress is not in session in washington, representatives and senators are doing hard work in their districts and states. on the caller's point about proxy voting, i will say a couple things. one, where the system came from. proxy voting is the house's response to needing to have a workplace accommodation for members to keep members and staff safe during the covid-19 pandemic. so that stood up in may of 2020 as a way to allow members who do not feel safe traveling long distances to washington, gathering in large groups, to keep doing the work of the country without necessarily needing to appear in person.

and certify extension. if you are people are coming to the floor, they do more social distancing and that sort of thing. it has continued throughout all of 2020 and through 2021. we do still see members using it because they need to do so for health and safety reasons. then we also, as the caller said on members using it on an interim basis, sibley because it is more convenient than appearing in person -- simply because it is more convenient than appearing in person. the medium to long-term, it is a tricky challenge for the house. there are some situations where i thing members of the house representatives, like any other american who seeks a workplace accommodation for health and safety reasons or because they are giving birth to a child or their partner has given birth to a child or they have family responsibilities, these are the kinds of situations in which

some sort of voting accommodation might make sense. in addition, we are not through the pandemic. there are real health and safety concerns for folks to travel and gather in person. figuring out what it should look like over the medium to long-term is a real challenge for the house. host: fred in west palm beach, florida. independent. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i have been trying to get through, and, regarding the pandemic, i am retired right now but i worked for 70 years in the medical field. i am appalled at certain percentage of the population still not vaccinated. when that has been proven over

-- host: what does this have to do with congress and the presidency? caller: well i just wanted to get back to -- they should get together and really work for the american people rather than being parshall on trying -- par tial on trying to keep their jobs. host: is there a way to judge the rate of partisanship in congress? guest: it is hard to capture with numbers empirically. i think it is worth noting that many large pieces of bills past due get bipartisan support. we have been talking about the bipartisan inver structure bill. that is what we called it, and that did get votes for members

of both parties in both chambers. the big defense policy bill that passes every year, that will get bipartisan support. it is certainly the case that many things that go through congress still do get votes from democrats and republicans in the senate. in most situations, this is required because you need 60 votes to overcome the threat of a filibuster. but we have obviously spent a lot of time this year, the first year of the biden administration, talking about efforts by democrats to legislate on a party line basis using procedures that allow them to get around the filibuster in the senate. that happened with the american rescue plan in the spring and set of procedures used for the build back better bill. that has been a focus this year of congress and the president,

using these procedures that do not require getting any republican votes to move legislation. host: our next caller in tennessee. caller: good morning. i want to say i admire the president when people say he has no charisma, i beg to differ. i love his crooked smile and his remarks. i fear not only that i know him but that the president knows me. i am deeply concerned for our democracy, and i hope some republicans, especially some of the ones that come from tennessee, where we democrats do not have much of an influence at all, will try to be a little bit constructive and bipartisan. i pray for them every night. host: molly reynolds, how is the president, a former senator, doing on reaching out across the aisle in congress to accomplish

his agenda? guest: i am glad you noticed the president is himself a former senator. particularly at the beginning of the year, his posture towards capitol hill was really influenced by his long career in the senate. i think over the course of the year, we have seen at times the white house has two confront the idea that the senate of today really does not look, and many cases, like the senate in which president biden served for many years. it is more partisan, the gaps between where democrats and republicans are is larger, not to mention the fact legislating in a 50-50, evenly divided senate is quite challenging, even under the best of circumstances. i do think the fact he has long senate service has been influential and i think it has

shaped the kind of hopes the white house has brought in to help work with capitol hill. i do think it is also worth noting how different the congress of 2021 looks from the congress joe biden served in when he was in the senate. host: anthony in brookland. a republican. caller: yes. first of all, i hope president biden doesn't have the nuclear codes because he does not even know where his brain is. second of all, the republicans did not want anything to do with raising the debt, so the bill they just passed, mcconnell did not want anything to do with the republicans raising the debt. this bill that just passed puts the democrats in the position of having to pass it by themselves.

host: molly reynolds? guest: the caller is eluding to and describing these politics around raising the debt limit and the degree to which the real goal on the part of leader mcconnell and the republicans who were helping develop the strategy was to find a way to ensure the debt limit did get raised because they were not interested in having -- incurring the wide sweeping negative consequences that would calm if there was a default on the debt. but trying to find a way to make democrats, as the color indicated, appeared to be responsible for taking the vote to raise the debt limit. i will remind folks that the debt limit and raising it is about spending that has already

happened in the past. so the debt the federal government's servicing is the result of policy choices made by previous democratic and republican congresses and presidents. it is about sort of paying the bills we have already incurred. in this moment, republicans are looking to find a way to i think ensure the debt limit got addressed. there was no sort of real interest at the leadership level in experiencing a develop at figuring out how to do it in a way that would put as much political responsibility as possible on democrats. host: david, a republican. caller: hi, good morning. i wanted to make some comments. congress is not reading these large bills. the infrastructure bill that is getting past is not really going to fix anything for the

infrastructure. most states do that on their own. these large bills that were in the past would have been paid for and are paid for because congress went through the bills and allocated the money then. when does the congress talk about paying off the debt? how does the debt just keep rising and rising and nobody is trying to do anything? liabilities are astronomical in the red. i don't see them trying to fix these. all i see is congress playing politics and saying we can't have human infrastructure but we can have roads and bridges but they are not owned by the federal government and they have tollbooths and collect money every day. i don't understand where the authority of new york gets off

saying they need to hundreds of billions of dollars -- they need hundreds of billions of dollars because they are collecting hundreds of billions of dollars for those. guest: sure. physical infrastructure is things like roads and bridges. we have a shared responsibility, the state and federal governments. we are i think at a moment where we know that there are needs around the country to address aging physical infrastructure. bipartisan infrastructure bill also contains other provisions around things like broadband and things to improve the lives of americans. to the caller's point about deficits and deaths, he is right that we hear less genuine rhetoric and concern around addressing the debt and deficit now than perhaps we did several

decades ago. it is simply not the same kind of political issue for many members of congress. i think that stands to have long-term implications but it is not something that i think there is genuine concern about right now. host: marilyn, independent. -- maryland, independent. caller: thank you. how much is the new president's time spent on the cleaning up, for lack of the better term, the mess of the former administration? it seems like they made a lot of reversals and changes that the previous administration's made -- we -- previous

administrations made. how much time does it take when the president or congress enacts some type of legislation? usually doesn't it take -- the results you will not see on to the next administration comes in or another four years? it takes time for a lot of the actions to go through, not just overnight. host: we will take those points. guest: yes. they are both great questions. i cannot put a sort of number of hours of the day answer on it, but i will say in the context of the first question about how much effort is the biden administration voting -- devoting to changing course from the trump administration, i would say it is certainly a focus, doing things like rolling back executive orders, writing new rules and regulations that reverse policy choices made by the previous administration. those are not uncommon things to

happen when we have a transition between presidents of different parties. so that is certainly something we would expect to see in the first year of our presidency. on your question about how long does it take to implement things that congress has passed, the answer is it varies widely. in some cases, and we can think about for example the american rescue plan from this spring that included an expansion of the child tax credit, that involved payments going out to families with kids and that when out. those started going up within a couple months. we think back to last year in 2020 with some of the pandemic relief, the cares act in that thing, those benefits started flowing maybe not as quickly as people who were in need could have used but certainly within weeks to months. on the other site, there are

certainly other federal programs, other kinds of federal spending that take much longer to roll out. we have been talking about the recently passed bipartisan infrastructure bill. there are definitely pieces of that which will take much longer to rollout, especially as we can about things around building a new bridge, not just when the money goes out the door but how long does that take to happen. host: on the child tax credit payments, the time is running out. that is the washington post headline this morning and those are set to expire this month. steve in new jersey, republican, good morning. welcome to the conversation. caller: thank you, good morning. good morning, miss reynolds. i think the change in congress of presidential and senate interaction changed in the 2016 election of donald trump. he insulted vernacular that was on accessible in any other litter go scenario and it has become contagious. the congress and senate.

when we watch televised congressional committee meetings or senate meetings, they become political grandstand for unfortunately the republican party of their lies and continuing pushing of election fraud, borders being overrun. i think how congress now acts is irresponsible, unethical, and they are grandstanding and set of enacting law and legislation. versus the senate who has currently been stonewalling almost every appointment the president wants. people don't seem to realize that ambassadors are not being appointed, heads of departments are not being appointed, and this is all to set up the biden -- set up that biting cannot get the vision that he wants done. host: we will take the points. guest: a caller brings up a couple of things that are worth touching on. on congressional hearings and

what their purposes and how that has changed over time, we know that congressional hearings have never been -- has always been the most effective way for congress to get information. a lot of that information gathering about everything from how a federal program is working to sort of oversight of the private sector, all of those -- all of that investigative fact-finding, that goes on behind the scenes. it is not what we really see happening in congressional hearings. i think the caller is right that we have, over time, seen a real change and escalation of really negative rhetoric in these hearings. often in part because the format where each member gets five

minutes to ask questions, it is really not to use that five minutes to elucidate information from a witness but it can be to sort of create a viral moment, to create a clip the member can use as part of his or her public facing portfolio. i do think that the caller is right, that the longtime observer progress, something i've noticed over time. then on the caller's point about nominations. i think this is a really important thing that is happening in the senate right now. i should say is not happening. we know that in the first year of a new administration, particularly when there has been a change in control of the white house, there will be a lot of nominees to be processed and

confirmed, and the senate has taken steps in the past 2 -- where the majority party is feeling stymied by the minority party. starting in 2013 when there was a change in the filibuster thresholds for nominations below the supreme court, including two executive branch agencies, those needed only to be confirmed with a simple majority to end debates on those nominations. when republicans controlled the senate while president trump was in the white house, we saw changes to try to speed up how much time there is for debates. but now we are at a point where even individual senators are frequently placing holds on nominees and making it very difficult for those appointments to get processed by the senate. and the senate is a precious

resource -- the senate time is a precious resource. figuring out how to allocate different time, including appointees, is a challenge. host: chris in illinois, independent. you are talking with molly reynolds this morning. she is the senior fellow of governance studies at brookings institution. talking about congress and the biden presidency. go ahead. caller: good morning and thank you for taking my call. i wanted to follow-up on that last caller because i think that is an important one. my question has to do with some of the things happening right now with respect to the congress and president seem to all be at a stalemate. things like electing more appointing judges to the supreme court, things like the judges being blocked by the republicans

in the lower courts, things like in the community with the education, where people are now advocating for less than historical representations in the textbooks and also for accomplishing things like the dead limit and on other things. what kind of things are you looking at as a potential remedy? things like extending the number of judges on the supreme court, or maybe even extending the length of the presidential term are some of the things i have heard before. what things are you thinking about or interesting things have you heard that might help that situation? guest: the two ideas are big structural changes that i think we are not especially likely to see.

i do think this question of how to break some of the gridlock and stalemates, that is in part the driver behind arguments about making changes to the way the filibuster works in the senate. there are a wide range of ways you can do that, including but not limited to abolition of the filibuster. there are also proposals requiring a return to the talking filibuster where senators are to speak instead of having needing 60 votes to end debates. you need 41 votes to continue a filibuster. we can imagine other targeted exceptions to the filibuster like the one working its way through for the debt limit. there are lots of specific ways you could and the senate could

potentially address this. i think that is a caller's question about stem and gridlock, a big part of why we are having these conversations around and buy you have seen so much energy in the conversation around should there be a change to the filibuster, including potentially full abolition. it is because, particularly democrats in the current configuration of power, are feeling frustrated by the amount of stalemate and gridlock and ability to get things done under the senate's current procedures. host: pennsylvania, i democratic caller, you and asked. -- you are next. caller: thank you. talking about infrastructure and the last president, you new york and new jersey -- president, new york and new jersey came up with money for the river. trump said he would pay his fair share from the federal government and he reneged on that. that is a fact.

in johnstown, we have river channels that are loaded with vegetation. they were supposed to be cleaned out and trump says we have no money for that. it is a federal project that is done by the core army of engineers. so the state and local governments don't have anything to do with cleaning out river channels. yet the trump reneged on cleaning up our channels in the johnstown area, and it is a flood prone area. this guy promised a lot of infrastructure, trump did, but never came through. so at least biden is doing something about it. these people that are calling up and saying the biden this invite and that, it is a lot of malarkey. host: let me go to brian in ohio, republican. caller: just to touch base wrote quick on why we are at a stalemate. people talk about a stalemate in

congress and all of that. if you look at biden and say it was a success and afghanistan, when you say american people got left behind, people falling off planes. you have our appointees, central mayorkas, say they gave themselves in a for effort. we have 2 million illegal immigrants across the board of this year. inflation is an all-time high. ask yourself as an american citizen, how is your life today rather than two years ago? that is all you have to ask yourself. democrat or republican, doesn't matter. two years ago versus today, how was your life? host: molly reynolds, i will share with you the headlines. you inflation -- u.s. inflation hit a 39 your high in november. -- year high in november. guest: the question the caller ended his comments asking

yourself are you better than two years ago is something i think many voters do think about in a way we think about folks really do evaluate traces about who to vote for. i think we are having this conversation about the first year of the biden presidency, but we know that elections have been frequently in this country and we are heading to midterms next november. so voters, like the last caller, i think will be reflecting on these questions about how they feel their life is now verses in the recent past. that is the kind of thing that would influence their vote choices. host: here is gary on twitter, why are dems afraid of term limits? why are the gop afraid of term limits? americans want to know. caller: term limits -- guest: term limits are often floated as a potential reform

for congress, but one thing we know from looking at states, there are many state legislatures in this country that have term limits. one consequence of having term limits is you end up with less experienced legislators, folks in office who have less experience and know less about how the lawmaking process works, no less about policy. that increases the influence of outside influences like lobbyists. if you are a member and have only been in office say one term and you know you will only be in office for two more terms, then you have less of an incentive to really invest in developing the skills you need to be good at your job and are more likely to turn to other folks outside of your institution, folks like lobbyists, to give you the information you need to make choices. i think that is often an

unappreciated or unanticipated consequence of having term limits. that to me is part of why they are not the best reform idea for improving the way congress works. host: beth in tampa, florida. independent. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i wonder as we the people how we can trust in any of our systems of government and congress when it is our leaders, our news, our media. it is so twisted. he read one side and they are to the right. you read one side and they are to the left. look at our governor in new york and what happened, his brother on cnn. how do we trust any of these people? we pay the salaries of the government from our money that we work for every day. who do we trust? i don't know what decision to make. i'm 50 years old and just started watching this last year during the pandemic and i was in shock. literally in shock when i watched our congress and senate how they question an act among

each other. i think it is disgraceful the way they act. host: molly reynolds, the issue of trust. guest: i think the caller is not alone. in asking these questions about trust in institutions of all kinds. not just congress but also the presidency, media institutions, state and local government. i think this is one of the -- we keep zooming out from the day-to-day of what happens on capitol hill. i think this is one of the greatest challenges that our system faces now is the fact that folks do not feel like they have the trust in government and in institutions that they want, figuring out how to address that i do think is a real challenge for folks in government at all levels. host: virginia, independent. your question or comment. caller: good morning. i guess my comment is about the

size of some of the bills introduced in congress. this bill back better bill is so -- no one can truly understand what is in it. we all like part of it we don't understand. the infrastructure bill passed because we could all identify with it. we can identify with roads and bridges and the internet, all of that, everyone could identify. the build back better plan cannot. if you want seniors to support, put forth a singular bill to allow medicare to negotiate drug prices. all of the insurance companies can negotiate but medicare cannot. there are parts of it that we do not understand and that is the problem. you are always going to find some obstructionist who will not vote for it. in the infrastructure bill, you found middle-of-the-road moderates who came across the isle and said yes we need this. why can't we have smaller bills

that everyone can understand and get behind? instead of these monstrous bills. guest: the caller really sort of hits on one of the greatest realities of the contemporary legislative process, i should say two of them. one about build back better specifically, the piece of legislation moving through the budget reconciliation process, the process that allows for certain types of legislation to move without the threat of a filibuster. because there are limits on the way the process can be used, there is an incentive for a party, in this case democrats, who are trying to write a reconciliation bill and put a lot of things, there one shot at getting a lot of their priorities done. why is that attractive? because it cannot be filibustered. in a world where it is hard to

build the coalition you need to get a filibuster to overcome the filibuster, anyway to legislate without the threat of a filibuster, like reconciliation, is attractive. so you will try to do it as much as you can through that process. the other thing i would say is, in the current moment, when it is difficult to build these coalitions that are required to get to 60 in the senate, congress ends up having to sort of put more things together, to bring all of those necessary votes on board. you put in something to get the votes of one senator who might not other except the bill and then you put in something else to get the support of another senator. i think that is what drives -- it is the reality of the contemporary legislative process that drives these bills. host: bill is the last call in tennessee, democratic color. caller:-- caller. caller: yes.

why don't we just do away with the filibuster because to begin with it was something enacted as a jim crow law to keep our minorities from being able to vote. but also when 41% of congress can say we do not want certain things in the majority -- and the majority voted 59% for it to become into law or whatever it was they were having the bill on, then that is not the representation of the united states people that are wanting things done because we elected those officials that are in their that voted that 51% or wasn't able to get to cover their votes because of a filibuster. that is not the majority. host: i will have molly reynolds respond. guest: the caller i think and cap plates well several of the

argument's we hear about -- and cap elites -- and cap elites -- the filibuster will be around until there are no votes in the senate to get rid of it and for democrats at this moment, it does not appear that is the situation they have. they do not have the support of all of their members to abolish the filibuster. if someday they get there, it may well be because folks have been persuaded by the kind of arguments of the callers made.

>> history tv saturdays on c-span2 and find a full list of these or watch any time on c-span.com/history.

>> many believe the citizens in the southern state >> were willing to fight and die to preserve repugnant institution of slavery. there has to be another reason, we are told. there is not. the evidence is clear and overwhelming, slavery was, by a wired -- wide margin, the single most important cause of the

civil war. these are the words and opinions of retired southern born army general tie for julie who taught it was point for several decades. he lays out his feuds in his book subtitled southerners reckoning with the myth of the lost cause. on this episode of book notes plus, it is available on the c-span now apple or wherever you get your podcasts. >> this week, the president holding the summit on this idea promoting democracy. what is it? what is he trying to accomplish? guest: first of all, thank you for having me. i think the summit for democracy was really to reengage the world at a time when authoritarianism is rising and democracy is backsliding. including in the united states. i think the idea comes from a good place. like let's all get together and figure out strategies that work. authoritarians are having in some ways summits of their own, exchanging ideas, surveillance technology, and other forces of coercion. we really have our work cut out for us. we need to prove to the world democracy is the best form of governance and it delivers for citizens in a real way. i think the motivation was

mainly that but also to prove in some ways that i think everyone is very aware american democracy is taking a hit over the last few years, and i think the biden administration wants to show we are back and we believe in this and sort of signaling that to our global partners. host: so the initiative for democratic renewal includes supporting free and independent media, fighting corruption, bolstering democratic reformers, advancing technology for democracy, and defending free and fair elections. the u.s. is planning to provide up to 424 -- 424 million dollars toward this initiative, working with congress and subject to the availability of the appropriate. what do you make of that number? guest: i think this is an important initiative and i'm not just focus on the number as i am on the need to increase funding for these activities. people misunderstand the percentage of our budget that

goes into foreign aid. it is a fraction and it is lower than other nations. i think these are worthwhile investments. another thing vice president harris said last night is the investment in women and girls. i think there is also going to be additional funding to support women and girls and their participation in public life. as harris said, which i thought was telling, is without women's strength we do not have democracy. i think these investments are needed. i would also like to see equivalent investments in our own countries. host: how will it work? guest: i imagine it would go through our usaid and perhaps the state department also does give it to different countries. the united states already has pretty robust democracy and governance programming all around the world. i have been the recipient of it in many countries. i imagine this would be funneled

through usaid and perhaps various embassies. host: wall street journal this morning has a headline about the president's summit and questions are raised on who was invited to the summit. invited to the today summit for democracy were not only democratic western allies but also countries such as the philippines and pakistan, which both have been cited for the state department for significant human rights issues, including extra racial killing, disappearances, and torture. not on the list are countries like turkey and nato allies whose president has cracked down on political opponents and hungary whose leader has been accused of undermining democratic institutions. guest: yes, i have been speaking and writing about this issue. i think the criteria -- it is not clear what criteria were used in selecting countries and there are inconsistencies. one that you did not name, there is authoritarian regime invited

and amid declining democracy bolivia was not. we could go through the list and there are certain weak democracies that were not invited and hybrid or non-democracies that were. i was not part of those discussions to make the determination. i assumed geopolitical considerations were there are trying to send certain messages, no doubt in the case of hungary. i felt, from the beginning, this summit should have been organized around principles and should have been a summit of democrats and that way you would get around this whole club is who is in and who is not. rather than making it about nationstates, we should have gathered democrats. the other thing this does is leave out democrats from undemocratic countries like countries that were not invited. i used to live in cambodia. i have dear friends that are fighting hard for democracy

there. shouldn't they be included on the summit for democracy? just because they live in a dictatorship. i think oakley moving forward and for the next summit, it won't just be about inviting countries but inviting people and civil society and democrats and activists and bringing them together. countries want to get an invite to this summit. it is funny because i think we at the alliance for securing democracy track chinese and russian and other emeritus from autocratic states and of course i think there is this i didn't want to go through your party anyway attitude. to be fair, china and russia, as you know, wrote -- the representatives wrote an editorial making the case that they are democratic, so i do think people care about whether or not they are invited.

guest: if you got any insight, did you have to commit to something? guest: a lot of the organizations around the summit have not been transparent. there is a requirement that countries look for commitments. i have not seen those commitments but apparently there is a draft version for each country. which is like their action plan going forward. it would have been -- what i have heard is a lot of these commitments were in cook creation with other actors. so basically you're handing over to the ruling party or executive of the country to draft their own democracy plan, like president -- the president of the philippines is the spokesperson for philippine democracy. i hope commitments are not made public and can begin a process of advocacy and allows the citizens and civil society to weigh in and be like no, that commitment is wrong or we need to add this. host: i want to get our viewers

thoughts on democracy here and around the world. republicans, (202) 748-8001. democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents (202) 748-8002. you started out by saying democracy is -- we have backpedaled on democracy and our own country. what did you mean? guest: it is not just my assessment. there are really excellent international organizations that do democracy assessments based on a pretty robust framework of indicators. freedom house, based here in the united states but also international idea based in stockholm have done democratic assessments of the globe. they have pointed a u.s.

democracy is declining over the last few years, particularly with regard to checks and balances, which is related to legislative oversight and with regard to attacks on civil society and free speech, in particular pointing to the previous administration's attacks on the press. enemies of the state or what have you. there is some concern about american democracy. of course there is plenty of americans who have observed the changes taking place. for example in the election laws in different states and concerns about that with regard to delivering a democratic outcome in an election, which is of importance. host: doug in boston, democratic color, up first, go ahead. caller: thanks. it has been reported mike pompeo ordered a hit on julian assange of wikileaks. for doing exactly what daniel

ellsberg did for the pentagon papers. apparently now, the brits have allowed united states extradition for bringing julian assange back to the united states where the penalty could be for 175 years in prison. is that the kind of democracy you had in mind? i will take your answer offline. thanks a lot. host: any thoughts on that? guest: [laughter] not really. i was just reading the news this morning about julian assange, but yes, certainly extradition is an issue of concern to different democracies, but it is not something i'm prepared to comment on in this case. host: bill in virginia beach, republican. caller: hi. thank you for taking my call. based on your organization, lines for securing democracy, i

get the thought that, based on the last couple of presidential elections, i'm 72 years old and i am the point where i don't even feel like i am guaranteed my vote will be counted the way i pat -- the way i cast my vote, that it might be switched from one column to another candidate other than the one i voted for. this is where i'm at in this country. as i speak today. host: laura thorton -- thornton? guest: that speaks to this gaping trust gap that we have here. it is something that really, i have lived overseas for 25 years and have definitely been in countries where there is a lack of trust in the election process. i'm so surprised to come back to my own country after so long and find the same ailments here.

but think it speaks to this need that we must rebuild trust in our election system the concern about the colors vote being switched, even though we have credible reports and audits of our election process showing the last election was one of the smoothest in our history, and nevertheless, there is this deep distrust. so we need to figure out what we do about that and how we can preemptively counter messages that feed into this concern. and build faith in our election officials and process which is bipartisan in the united states. our election administration is run and overseen by both political parties. and yet we still have these concerns. i think this is going to be the big challenge going over. how do we get americans again to trust their elections. host: david in new york,

independent. good morning. caller: good morning. thank you very much for comments made by your guest. while there is need and merit for complete investigation and overhaul of our democracy -- democratic processes here in the u.s. in particular, i believe that the most lital weapon in the middle east -- lital -- heatal -- lethal weapon in the middle east is get our house in order here and use the principles of liberty, freedom, democracy, equity, equality as the basis for security, justice, and peace in that area. i would like to hear your guest comment on really allowing the masses in the middle east to be able to take hold of such mantra in order to really bring their societies to the 21st century

and the role the u.s. would like to play in that regard. guest: i think that's an excellent point the caller made. i do agree that getting our own house in order is important for us to have credibility elsewhere. and i can speak from experience that as a democracy practitioner overseas, it's really difficult, for example, to lecture another country about their partisan gerrymandering when ourselves are guilty of that. the way we should approach to other countries and democrats there trying to establish democracy, we are in this together. we are not perfect. but we are also making efforts. that we are not just ignoring the problems that are happening with us. in that way it's more of a partnership. and i actually believe the united states, democrats here,

could learn a lot from our partners overseas. i don't think it needs to be a one way export. we are the democracy promoters, the teachers. i think we can be the students, too. i think one of the things the summit over the next year hopefully can do is promote that feeling of exchange. but i think the middle east is a very difficult place for democracy. unfortunately, according to international assessments, the fewest number of countries in the middle east are democratic. we really should be bolstering our support to those organizations and individuals in those countries that are trying to make those changes for sure. host: what could we learn from other countries, and which ones? guest: that's a great question. one of the things i think we can learn is about elections and election process. for example, the united states doesn't have a history of election -- robust election observation. this is very much prevalent in

all the countries where i lived. you have nonpartisan election observers. in addition to partisan election observers. you also have international election observers. and the point of this is not to point out flaws, although that can happen, but it's to bolster trust. in the united states we don't really have this robust system of observation. i think we could learn a lot from different -- there is a whole global community of practice about election observations, codes of conduct, principles. we could bring some of that here. we are even reluctant in the united states to let the osce which does election observation around the world, we are reluctant to let them in certain polling stations here. i think that's something. also, we are now facing this terrible situation where election officials are under threat. this is very new to the united states. this is not new to other countries. they have gun going through this a lot. as such, they put in mechanisms

and procedures and training and risk management methodologies to help prevent election -- violence against leaks officials. that's something we could -- election officials. that's something we could learn from. south korea which have gone way ahead with special voting arrangements during the pandemic developing clear communications plans, putting together early voting and other mechanisms to avoid possible spread of infection. they are quite extraordinary in the way they manage elections. there is a high degree of trust among the korean public in their election process. i think these kind of sharing. beyond elections i am very worried about information integrity. in the united states as elsewhere we are -- our democracy is really taking a hit because of the prevalence of dis information. what can we learn from other countries that have maybe been more successful in tackling this problem? i think about finland. finland as all of society

approach where they involve teachers and the government and civil servants and the general public and youth in bolstering resilience of their communities. they have media literacy and specific education across all their courses in the classroom starting at a young age. they have a whole of society approach. they have made it part of their security strategy. what can we learn from finland? i think that we should open -- i know that we believe america is so different, we are so exceptional. let me tell you, i lived overseas for a long time, every country feels they are exceptional and different. it doesn't mean we can't learn what's worked elsewhere. host: mississippi, jerry watching there. democratic caller. caller: yes. i worry about our future. i think our young folks, what kind of future they are going to have if we lose this democracy. the things that dr. king and all those civil rights workers died

for. we'll lose it. we have to start all over again. my point is this, if we can just start voting as black folks, vote. we can change things. with that would you emphasize what the need for -- to keep our democracy. thank you. guest: those are the thoughts that keep me up at night, too. i have children. and i think about the robustness of our democracy and how to protect it. i don't have any magical answers. i do think that the caller captured something. it is about youth. i was talking about finland's all of society approach and how they go into schools at a very young age and teach about the importance of democracy. why it matters to people's life. why we have to participate. if we don't participate,

apathetic, that's how democracy dies. what can we do with kids now to bolster their belief in this system? i also thing there is supply side problem. we have to make sure our democracies are delivering for people. the reason people are losing trust and faith is they feel their leadership has been captured by moneyed interest or corruption or maybe even nothing so dangerous but just that they don't deliver for people. that they are not representing the needs of people. i think we also have a supply side problem where our governments need to start ensuring that they are delivering on behalf of the people that voted for them. and make the case that democracy is actually the best pathway for economic development. and to solve problems of inequality and climate change and other challenges we face. host: let's go to larry in north carolina, independent. good morning to you.

caller: good morning, to you. happy holidays. government -- democracy is governance by the people. i kind of find it a little ironic that president biden is promoting this when the democrat party is dbling -- dabbling in socialism and marxism, especially with the b.l.m. folks. how does that set with the principles of democracy in the long run for our own country? thank you. guest: well, i would take issue that -- perhaps there are people in our country promoting marksism. that's not something i'm hearing from the biden administration. and their socialism and that word is, i think, misconstrued

often here in the united states. i think that -- i lived in sweden. that is a democratic socialist country. it is not marxist. it believes in government by the people. it has high degrees of equity. it is also a capitalist country that makes an enormous amount of money and thriving private industry. i'm not particularly concerned that the united states is moving in a direction of marxism. host: where are some bright spots around the world for democracy? guest: great question. i think there are bright spots. i think we do need to focus on those. one thing -- instead of specific country, i'll talk about a pattern of behavior. one thing we have seen over the last few years is more citizen engagement. more people standing up and fighting for their democracies. in terms of countries i look at belarus. i'm not saying the outcome has

been great, but you saw this momentum of people. mostly women, to be honest, leading this fight for democracy. and really believing that this was worth it. hong kong, again, not a great outcome necessarily, but it's just this outpouring of people. it just proves that it doesn't matter where you live. that this isn't a cultural thing. this is a human desire to have freedom and democracy. so i think that is particularly heartwarming. then i also -- we have also seen that there are countries that are moving in the right direction. they are holding elections. we have seen peaceful transitions of power in places that we hadn't seen before. i do think there is reason to hope. going forward. host: how important, in your opinion, to democracy are support of ukraine? guest: i think it's incredibly important. you are talking to someone who lived in the former soviet

union. i feel very attached to ukraine. i believe that our support to ukraine is fundamental to our belief in democracy. i am happy to hear, at least from the read out from the putin-biden discussion that there will be consequences if russia continues to exert its authority over ukraine. ukraine has already experienced such an invasion. i lived in georgia, the country georgia, which is occupied by russia. it's extremely important to these countries that we are on their side. and that we show our support in the fullest form. host: amy, in georgia, democratic caller. caller: good morning. several callers have mentioned how to save our democracy. i think that one way we can do that is by telling the truth about american history, about

the fact that we are just a 53-year-old multicultural democracy, which is not a very long time. republican party turning its back on the constitution. democracy, rules of law. actively choosing authoritarianism. also speak plainly and clearly about what's happening. do not couch it in euphemisms and they or them. say it plainly. who is doing this? who decided they would like to live in a authoritarian state instead of a democracy. that will help a lot in saving our democracy. thank you. low pressure laura? host: laura? guest: i really -- feel that as well. i think you make -- caller makes an excellent point that what is so troubling about what's happening to democracy around the world is that we, the people, are electing

authoritarians. these are not -- there are some of the old-fashioned koops of our parents and grandparents taking place, but more oven we elect these leaders who slowly erode our democracy. we choose them through the ballot box. so this is something that i find remarkably dangerous. and we do need to call that out. why are people voting for the victor orbans of the world. by the way, that is something that is getting traction as we know in circles in the united states. it's no mistake that tucker karlsson flew to hungary to meet with victor orban to talk about this concept. we do need to call it out and be very clear eyed about what's going on. to the point about history, i think this discussion is extremely timeson.

we and i -- timely. we and josh hawley made comments last night saying we are making america look bad or we want to change history. no, we need to own up to our history. which is not pretty. and we need to own up to our failures. i don't think that's a sign of weakness. i think that's a sign of strength. i think the more that we say that we have made mistakes in the past and that we are continuing to strive to improve things, the stronger it makes us as a democratic government. host: we are talking about democracies and the president holding a summit on democracies. glenn in lancaster, california, republican. what are your thoughts? caller: good morning. i'd like to talk about -- i'd like to thank you for my first amendment, which is we are a constitutional republic. our representatives get voted in and that's our democracy.

here's the thing. the people are being indoctorred by the false press. we had an impeachment that went on against a president trump for two, three years. investigations by the f.b.i. that were all false. and we are against our democracy, our votes. it's stymied the american people. we need to get back -- we look at a president who is in here doesn't have to answer. one question, doesn't have to do anything. he walks away. host: your response, what you heard. guest: well, on the disinformation part about not trusting information, that is a

big struggle in the united states. i would agree with that point. i wouldn't necessarily -- my concern is what people are consuming not only on maybe cable news but also on social media. on the issue of impeachment -- i can't speak to the caller's opinions, but impeachment is a democratic process that is put in place to serve as checks and balances. that's why we have it. host: kay in baltimore, independent. good morning. welcome to the conversation. caller: yes, good morning. thank you for answering my call. a quick question for your guest. my first question is, can you please one successful democratic story, one -- host: what did you say one successful democratic what? caller: promotion story. one country where we have gone from democracy and we left peaceful there democratic. they don't need our help.

and we are not -- just one successful story where over the last 30 years we succeeded in promoting democracy just one. host: i love that question. guest: i love that question. as a democracy practitioner we often wonder what impacts of our work. don't have to name one. can i name several positive results. i can name several positive results. i was in due nearbia -- i was in indonesia, and i so support to build a democracy. now they are one of the most thriving in southeast asia. we have been in countries where we sort of graduated them in the sense that the support is no longer -- we don't need to provide so much aid to continue to support the process. then i have seen even if the country itself maybe not -- no one's achieved the perfect democratic standard. i don't think that any of us

can. it's an ongoing struggle. i have also seen impacts that support democrats have had in improving the lives of women and their participation. i have seen how in countries we have supported civil society that's been able to organize or supported local media so that they can help inform citizens about their electoral choices and government. i have also seen how support to legislatures has really changed the game in terms of providing training on legislative drafting and oversight and constituent relations. while i hear the -- some of the cynicism in the question, yes, we haven't always succeeded everywhere we try to promote democracy, there have been successes. host: beverley in texas, democratic caller. caller: yes. hello. the country that should be our example was germany when they

got rid of evidence-free voting machines, which are hackable on purpose. the man in the middle attack can't be prevented. they are not evidence. how we trust a democracy, how we trust that an election has been fair is with real evidence. hand counted, hand marked, not a ballot marking device. that's another computer interface that can be, on purpose, hacked. i think virginia should -- when they got rid of the voting machines they should never have adopted the ballot marking devices. there are wonderful people trying to salvage our democracy. greg palace is one. follow him. his lawsuits in 2000 stopped several republican states from

purging legal voters. legal voters. therefore votes are biden in georgia, the two senators were able to count because more votes counted. more minority and students and women's votes counted. we do live in a democracy that is suffering. and we need to save it. jenniferon is another election integrity activist. trump was not interested in looking at the voting machine es and s which has had many problems. they lied about having modems in their equipment. and promised that they would take them out. even the government agency said that they would take those modems out. and yet, they were in -- and still are in voting machines. there's been programs -- programmers who have seen the

programs that can interface with these voting machines. host: i'm going to jump in. your reaction? guest: i think the caller raises some good points about technology in elections. i think that it's -- sometimes in places a mixed blessing. and the promotion of paper ballots is one thing to provide a level of security. but also i think, particularly in the united states, there is this need to understand the quality of audit process. because that term has been sort of misunderstood or misused. and what is actually a good election audit. there are examples. not just overseas, there are examples in the united states what that can look like to ensure that the election did deliver the correct vote. there is also a process of auditing voter lists to make sure what she's referring to like people getting purged or in countries i worked in where we

audited the voter list we have seen names added. there are procedures that can be put in place to build trust in that process. host: moses in florida, new york. democratic caller. caller: yes. thank you so much for having me on. candidate for u.s. senate. there is a growing -- thank you so much for having me on. host: you have to turn down your television. that's why you are getting confused. listen and talk through your phone. jay in florida. republican. in florida, a republican. good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i think one of the most frustrating things that i'm seeing right now is that our press is not actively seeking the truth. again there was a mention concerning disinformation. but from the questions that i have seen being asked concerning

such as election integrity, or the president and how he feels about certain it ideas that he has, the press isn't actively going after questioning what he actually believes in. or anybody what they actually believe in. it seems like all we are getting is opinions. it all seems to be leaning one way or another. host: what's the impact of that if you agree on democracy? guest: as i said before. i think the importance of a strong and independent media is one that cannot be underestimated. and i also think that the speaker taps into this concern that we don't trust media. it's not -- we don't trust all media. we don't trust specific side of media. or this is the good tv station and this is the bad tv station. it's just become very polarized.

that is a deep concern to me. we are just divided into different information bubbles. again it goes back to this need to not only bolster quality journalism, but also citizens' ability to discern information and to do their own sort of fact checking and due diligence. host: elizabeth in san diego, democratic caller. caller: good morning, c-span. i'd just like to say i admire the work that ms. thornton and her agency's endeavored. in this country we do have misinformation problem with our media searches. one example is years ago the republican party stopped calling the democratic party the democratic party. if you listen to your callers, they now call it the democrat

party. it's a subtle sure. it's all a way they can identify themselves as being true republicans. that's just one example. the other thing you'll hear caller after caller, they call in and talk about socialism. yet they are all on security. not a republican ever voted for it. i wanted to mention regarding this most recent election is the orange gorilla in the room. we have on tape the former president of the united states calling up the state of georgia, the election officials, and pressuring them to find votes for him. i mean what other example do you need to see the malign intent of the former president. then he summons up right wing armed men primarily, to storm

the capitol while the votes are being counted. this was an insurrection promulgate the by the former president of the united states -- promulgated by the former president of the united states. all the alarms are going off and the red lights are flashing. i would like to hear your comments on that. thank you very much. guest: yeah. i do think -- i hate to say it, but i do think the alarm bells are flashing. i agree very much with that. there was actually a really good atlantic piece about the coup is already under way. i think there are a couple of things in there. obviously we covered the disinformation component where there is dis information about the -- disinformation about the past election, but also dangerous life threatening disinformation around covid that has put us in danger. and there doesn't seem to be checks on whether or not media

can propagate such lies. they continue to go on major news sources, major pop pew layer tv stations. there is the process she referred to around the elections. what i'm most concerned about in different states is, yes, of course gerrymandering, which is a problem. or other issues related to early voting or drop boxes all significant, but the most significant one is panning over the election authority to partisan political legislatures. and this, to me, is where the deep danger lies. because we could get into a situation where the party-led legislature in a state decides that they don't want the slate of electors that the people chose, and that they are going to send in their own. and i think this is what we really need to worry about. i have written about how in wisconsin, for example, the republican legislature is actually proposing to just seize

control of the election process all together. and take it away from the bipartisan commission that currently manages and administers elections. in other words, let's have politicians run the process in which they are competing. this is deeply disturbing. and efforts to pass federal election reform, which at the biden summit, both biden and harris talked about, we are unable to get that done. important changes to our election laws, voting rights, etc. is just -- we are not able to do it without removing the filibuster and even so we need to ensure we have all members of the democratic side onboard. yeah, i, too, am very concerned that there is groundwork being laid heading into 2024. host: brad in maine, independent. you're our last. go ahead. caller: we have got rank choiced

voting in maine. that does allow for majority to prevail. i guess i'm wondering what do you think about that? do you see differences between countries that have a majority rule versus this most folks votes win? host: laura? guest: i love this -- i think ranked choice voting is interesting. i think there are other methods countries have used to try to diffuse -- defuse the base control over a specific nominee. razorbacked -- ranked choice is one. he they have interesting experiments, not at the national level, but local level elections where you can vote not only for the most popular but the least popular. you can get out the most toxic or extremist elements. i think something about our primary system, which -- i'm not

suggesting we should not have primaries per se, there is the problem in terms of sort of navigating to the most extreme in the primary. and having methods like ranked choice is one way to, perhaps, defuse that. i think it is worthwhile to consider some other alternatives in voting and prioritizing voting. the second point of the question about majoritytarianism, i think the u.s. is quite unique in delivering minority tear yarn -- minority tearian governments. that would be pretty harshly called out if we were examining another country trying to enact laws that delivered such minorityian results. that's a broader conversation i'm not sure we'll be able to change that. host: laura thornton, director and senior fellow at the alliance for security democracy,

thank you for the conversation this morning. guest: thank you for having me. host: we are going -- right now we are going to turn our attention to the top news story of the week. we asked you all this question in our first hour this morning. republicans dial in at 202-748-8001. democrats, 202-748-8000. and independents, 202-748-8002. one of the headlines dominating washington this week was the passing of the late senator robert dole. the senator from kansas and republican presidential nominee in 1996 passed away on sunday at the age of 98. yesterday the casket carrying the body of the senator made its way to washington into the rotunda of the u.s. capitol where he was lying in state yesterday. president biden and lawmakers honored the legacy of the kansas

senator in a ceremony yesterday. today the casket will be departing the u.s. capitol in that vehicle you see right there. it will be making its way over to the national cathedral here in washington where there will be another memorial service starting at 11a.m. eastern time. this is invitation only. honoring dole's life at 11 a.m. senators pat roberts and tom daschle and dole's daughter will offer tributes. lean greenwood -- lee greenwood will perform. you can watch that here on c-span. on our website c-span.org. or download the free c-span radio app as well. during the funeral at the national cathedral, the public is invited to attend a tribute for dole at the world war ii memorial on the national mall where large screens will show live stream of that service. 1:15 p.m. eastern time. you can watch that here on

c-span as well. other top news stories of the week of course are the economy, inflation reaching a 39 year high. you also have the unemployment rate at a 52-year low. we had president biden's call with president putin earlier this week on russian aggression on the ukraine border. all of that on the table this morning as we go to your calls. will in alabama, independent. good morning. caller: yes. good morning. i was -- wanted to speak on the economy and all. it's kind of confusing to the average person. i know everybody has some involvement with the stock market in some way or another. whether it's through their retirement, etc. it gets confusing when you say the stock market continued to go up, but yet the person on the bottom double is out here feels it from the gas prices and the

high prices of food. like you said inflation. how do we -- i don't know how we separate those two things or how we bring them together in that's the way it's supposed to be. host: ok. dorothy in alabama, republican. caller: hello. i just want to say something about the congresspeople who are not showing up for work and still getting paid. i think that the call-in voters should not -- their votes should not be recognized because they are not there actually voting in person. i think they need to be there in person. host: proxy voting. there is a lawsuit led by kevin mccarthy, the minority leader, republican leader in the house, challenging proxy voting as unconstitutional. caller: i agree. you don't know if they are real voting or not. i think if you -- a congressman,

whether republican or democrat, you should be there in person voting. host: sorry, finish your thought. caller: that's it. host: ok. news story of the week, will in minnesota. democratic caller. what do you say? caller: yes. i was hoping to get in on your last guest there. i think we should eliminate the electoral college and just go by a -- just count the votes and go by the most votes. host: all right. john in north hollywood, california. independent. john. caller: yeah. i think constitution is wrong. there is no democracy in this

country. host: bruce in youngtown, ohio. democratic caller. bruce, what is your top news story this week? caller: biden calling putin. host: that's your top news story. why? caller: all these leaders of these other countries are looking at the united states and biden, leading all these people over in afghanistan to have their heads cut off. they have no respect for him. so whoever he calls, don't act like -- they'll act like they respect him but they don't. next question, a few months ago there was an article on the news for the day about biden's son spending -- host: biden's son --

caller: yeah. having a party with drugs and prostitutes and spending $20,000 of federal dollars. never heard anything else about it. where's the f.b.i.? if i spent federal dollars on illegal things, they would be knocking my front door down. the federal bureau of incompetence. host: omar in newark, new jersey, independent. good morning. caller: hi, good morning. how are you. host: well. top news story for you. caller: adam schiff. about he's trying to -- people won't come, they won't come answer the subpoenas. i just think it's wrong that they went in there and people got killed at the capitol and everything and no one has been held responsible. then they saying about -- all

these senators, if they are going to stand by donald trump about that lie, what else would they stand by? they are just making it go longer and longer. our country is going to -- it's just sad. thank you. host: bernard in new york, republican. hi. caller: yes. good morning, c-span. can you hear me. host: we can. caller: ok. listen, the greatest danger in america is two things. the first thing is ideology, a marxist ideology. the second thing and third thing is the democratic party and the news media that covers for them. now on c-span the guy that runs,

he's making the effort and claim that because we are picking on the biden too much. and we really should picked on trump more. so here he is suggesting what we should do is figure out, whatever today's date is, go back on the same date with trump and see how much we picked on him. and if we only picked on him a little bit, then we should always pick on biden today a little bit. in other words, you are not reporting the news. you have a quota system. this is not journalism when you report according to what's fair. let's give them the same easy going as we gave trump the ease -- that's not journalism. that's trying to make everything fair. the news media is not fair. their job is to report the truth based on the issues of the day.

they do not do that. the last caller was misinformed. trump did not lie about anything. he did not lie about -- he said to the reporter asked him if he thought that white permission to address the house for one minutecy and so on were equal -- were good people. he said there's good people on both sides. he responded to the same reporter. no, no. i condemn racism. i condemn white supremacy. he said i'm talking about the good people that lived in that village in that little town. and didn't want their statues tore down. didn't want graffiti on their homes. their homes invaded. host: got it. jim in west virginia. democratic caller. caller: thanks for c-span.

thanks for taking my call. i just wanted to respond to what that boob was just blairg about right there, for example. he's talking about talking points. i agree with part of what he's saying is that journalism should be about truth. let me give you some examples of truth. he said trump didn't lie. trump lied constantly. everybody understands politics, politicians have to tell something from their standpoint, their perspective. but trump elevated lying to an art form. and he brainwashed so many people from the right wing, the republican side of things, that everything they do, everything he did and says is righteous. and positive and the best and patriotic. and a lot of it is trash. i'm sorry to say. a lot of it is trash.

that's why you have real republicans like liz cheney and adam kinzinger, to mention a few, that don't go for that. john mccain didn't go for that. called it spurious nationalism. because it closely resembles fascism. host: we are getting your top news story of the week. today we are seeing headlines that inflation has reached a 39-year high. kevin brady, the top republican on the ways and means committee, tweeting out. biden delivers another pay cut for workers and families. inflation highest in 40 years. impact is under biden family's lost three years' worth of real wage growth. crisis for workers and seniors. huts a hash tag in there for senator joe manchin should suspend, he says, the build back better spending binge until inflation under control. the social spending aproposal

approved in the house. they are still negotiating with manchin and sine man. ruby in beverley, ohio. hi. good morning. caller: good morning. host: ruby, can you mute your phone -- your television. are you there, ruby? maybe you muted your phone. i meant your television, sorry. tracy in venice, florida, democratic caller. caller: thank you. i would like to call about the lawsuit that jeffrey has filed against oxford public schools regarding the school shooting. it's for $100 million. he's also the same lawyer who

represented dr. death, kevorkian. i think that michigan has had a problem with guns, with republican legislature has refused repeatedly over and over to do any kind of action on gun control. and i just think it's a terrible tragedy to try to ruin an entire school district over an equally horrible tragedy. i just think that the country should be aware that school districts are doing their best to protect schools and have a climate that's not just based upon fear with the legislature that doesn't want to do anything to try to combat it. host: ok. ed in pleasant valley, new york. republican. hi. caller: good morning. i have been watching you guys for years. i have been retired for about 10 years. i watch all your hearings, the

senate, congress. i'm going to tell you something, people out there don't watch those shows. they need to watch it and get the information for themselves from those hearings. starting from the benghazi all the way through the impeachments, all that stuff. people don't watch and they don't listen. they are listening to these news stations. if you are a general person out there and you watch both the right and the left news stations, put it that way, there is no good information coming from either one of them. if you watch the hearings and you listen and you listen to our representatives what they are, and what they aren't doing for mostly they are not doing, you get the right idea what's going on in this country. this immigration thing and voting thing, we got 800,000 people who are going to be able to vote in new york state. state elections. come on. there is something really going wrong with our country. it's not right.

host: ed, to your point. we understand people don't have hours to watch these hearings. and so we have provided on our website -- on the video player key moments, or points of interest that occur during these hearings that last two, three, six, or benghazi, 13 hours. and that way you are busy, going about your day, you want to know what happened at a hearing that you care about, you can quick the video player. gold or yellow stars will show up along the bottom and allow you to quickly go through and find the highlights from that hearing. that is a tool we have provided on our website, c-span.org. if you are out and about with your phone, download our free new video app, called c-span now. you can get it on any mobile device. andrew, georgia. independent. good morning.

caller: good morning. first can't be easy as a moderator, great job. other thing i would say about the news media and inflation in general. news media is commercialized, unfortunately. and has always been that way in a sense throughout our history of this country. but there was always journalism which truth went out. inflation, what people don't know what people don't know. when any group targets any industry, such as energy, they are going to get inflation. and this is part of what we are seeing today. so in general great job. to sum it up, our journalism is sorely lacking. truth has to win out in the end. host: john in camden point, missouri. democratic caller. hi. caller: hi. how you doing. i just want to say just one thing. democrats need to focus on

morals. because the republicans are lacking morals completely. all this stuff they are doing today and everything else like that, their morals are gone. and i think that we also need to focus on -- we had a president that was in office that over 20 women put allegations of sexual assault and everything else against him. and we are bringing up -- we are having people quit jobs and being fired, everything else, not even doing that. you got queue mow in new york -- queumo -- cuomo in new york. here's a guy running for president again. here's a guy running for president again that has over 20 women of alleged sexual assault. the thing about it is, maybe, ok, say five, maybe. say five are true. that's five. that's still a lot.

i think women should have a chance to have a voice on this guy getting into office. and the press that's not, not focused on that at all. host: richard in ohio, republican. top news story of the week, richard. caller: yeah. i'm kind of tired of people calling about our last president. when he ran for office and everything else, he turned around he kept his word and got jobs here in the united states. now we got a president in here that took away all these jobs. the oil, everything else. and turns around and he wants to turn around. we are going to have another depression here. we are not going to have one, we already have one. and things like this and that. hey, he has -- except put people

back, took their jobs awairks everything else. that's not right. host: ok. joseph in fayetteville, north carolina. democratic caller. welcome to the conversation. go ahead. caller: yes, ma'am. i would say bob dole's death is probably my top news story of the week because it goes back to the fact that even though people talk so bad about our last president, he was reminding us there was a time in america where the united states wanted to be neutral. it was a democrat that got up to the point where we want to be in charge of the whole world. woodrow wilson, got us in world war i. and league of nations. hitler and all those other people could take over in europe and got us into world war ii. all wait up to the 60's when lyndon johnson lied and got us into vietnam.

there was a time when republicans were the party of morals. and democrats were the ones that lied all the time. and the reason i'm calling on the democratic line now, why i voted for democratic for a lot of time, was because when i lived in chicago you couldn't keep a job with the city or county unless you were declared you was republican or democrat. the world has turned upside-down. that's all -- bob dole was the statesman. host: joseph, as you are talking about the late senator, flags at half-staff here in washington, continuing today because he is departing the capitol shortly after lying in state yesterday, becoming the 33rd person to lie in state in the rotunda of the u.s. capitol. and there will be a motorcade

that brings the late senator to the national cathedral where today there will be a memorial service, robin dole, his daughter, will speak. tom daschle, senators pat roberts as well will speak at 11 a.m. eastern time. you can watch that here on c-span. following that memorial service, there is also going to be a writhe laying ceremony at the world war ii memorial. senator bowl -- bob dole instrumental in that. the 20th chair of the joint chiefs of staff, actor tom hanks, and savannah guthrie are scheduled to speak at that ceremony. elizabeth dole will also lay a writhe at the memorial in honor of her late husband. following the world war ii memorial ceremony, dole's family will travel with his remains to joint base andrews for his final trip home to kansas. the memorial service at the cathedral, the writhe laying ceremony, watch it all right here on c-span today. also on our website c-span.org.

or you can download that free c-span radio app. david in tennessee. independent. we are talking about top news story of the week, david. go ahead. caller: talking to me? host: yes. go ahead. caller: ok. i just want to talk about immigration. i think that trump got elected because of what most americans feel that we do not want our country invaded by any other country illegally. ok. doesn't matter what country you're from. canada, england, wherever. but there needs to be a stop to it. it's in our constitution to protect our borders. yet no one is doing it. now if democrats want to get elected, they need to control the influx of immigration in the united states across the canadian border and mexican border. that's about all i have to say. host: ok.

david. annie in fairfax, california. republican. caller: hi. i am a registered republican but i'm changing my mind. but story is one i just heard on democracy now and it has to do with julian aage. aage. i guess the british government is guaranteeing if he's extradited here he won't be in a severe tight prison-type situation like solitary or something like that. i don't have all the facts on it, but i thought it was a very interesting story. i wondered if you might know something more about it. host: i don't, annie. previous caller brought that up as well. you're watching live coverage today. the departure of senator bob dole. his last time leaving the u.s. capitol. the senator died on sunday at the age of 98. i think i see the democratic leader there, chuck schumer, in

line behind those that will say goodbye to the senator. along with the speakers of the house, minority leader mccarthy as well, all lining up to say their last goodbye to the senator. leave the capital and he will go to the national cathedral. his remains will then along with his family make the last trip home to kansas. let's watch.